Some Rules Even God Can't Break
by FluffyGlitterPantsDragon
Summary: Chloe has been in an accident. Dan and Lucifer sit and wait. - medical trauma, angst, worry, 2-3 chapters.
1. Chapter 1

It was all his fault.

He wasn't fast enough. With all his power at his disposal, he still had to be aware of a possible danger in order to respond. He couldn't slow time like Amenadiel; that wasn't in his array of gifts. Once an event was already happening, Lucifer was reliant on his own reaction time as much as anyone else. Which, admittedly, wasn't always better than that of the humans around him, if history was any judge.

Daniel blamed himself too, but he was literally only human, it was to be expected. The man wasn't fast enough - never could have been or hoped to be. He had a valid excuse for not moving faster. Lucifer did not. Not that speed would have helped after the fact. Not that he allowed it to be a valid excuse.

But if he, or really, _anyone_, had been paying just a little more attention…

The scene was too much like the one when Delilah died in his arms - too many flashing lights, too many cars in states of collision, though one lane was still open. The nighttime darkness should not have been an issue for him. He was distracted, but he shouldn't have been.

The arrestee had been going along meekly, allowing himself to be walked toward the police car in handcuffs, the very image of a submissive culprit. Nothing about his outward demeanor suggested his next frantic actions. As he was being led to a police car, he suddenly changed direction, shoving Chloe sideways into traffic in a foolish bid to escape police custody.

Lucifer ran, everyone reacted when they witnessed it - as it was happening - but not fast enough. The crack of flesh and bone against metal - she was clipped by a truck mirror, hard enough to spin and fall, hitting her head twice in a split second, her blonde hair flying and seeping blood at her scalp.

Lucifer bit his tongue when others instructed him to stay back, yelling at him that you never move a victim with a possible broken neck. He hovered, fists clenching and unclenching. Even if he could have moved her to a hospital himself, he didn't know what was broken. It was all he could do not to descend over her body, wings protectively huddled over her until the agonizing minutes counted down and the ambulance arrived. Doing so would just cause far more harm than help.

His feathers repaired other Celestials, not humans.

The other option was to yell at the night sky, and he already knew the futility of such gestures. He was allowed to stay by her side, stroking her hand until the emergency vehicles arrived. Not that anyone was capable of moving him.

EMTs carefully braced her head with plastic bits and structures, cradling her for the ride. Dan went with her, but he had to follow separately.

If he'd only he had been looking in the right direction, he could've-

Dan gave him a sympathetic look as the ambulance doors shut.

Lucifer got to the hospital first.

Witnessing her transferred was nearly as bad as the aftermath of the accident; he could do nothing. Daniel didn't even look surprised to find Lucifer standing outside, waiting, shifting feet.

Nameless humans flitted around, moving her, one slipped a paper bracelet on her wrist.

"Her vitals are good."

"Her brain activity is regular."

When they rolled her gurney away for x-rays, her form covered in tubes and surrounded by people, Lucifer and Dan regarded each other uncomfortably. It was broken by an orderly asking a question then shoving a form at Dan, which he signed blindly, not even looking at it.

Lucifer, strained, couldn't help but comment that few of his contracts were actually _signed._

Daniel dared him to make a comment about heaven or hell, but he couldn't respond to the taunt. Her soul wasn't in either one of those places. Nor was it entirely here, but it still hung by a thread to her body.

Lucifer could have reached out and plucked it, but feared to disturb it. He could see it as she was wheeled away, stretched thin as spun glass, but holding on with the strength of a thousand suns.

It might not be enough.

Lucifer turned his attention to the hovering ex-husband. "Why are you signing forms? Aren't you divorced yet?"

Daniel gave him a tight. dark look, but answered, "I'm still her point of contact. And we never got around to getting off each others' insurance, mostly for Trixie's sake. It might help her here."

"If it's a matter of cost-"

"Not right now, okay? If you really are _Lucifer_, now would be a great time to put in a good word with your dad."

He tried not to be affronted. Really. "Like He'd listen to me, no more now than any other time in human history. Clearly Dad didn't care any other time his personal creations were in mortal danger."

"You know what? I'm taking you up on the hospital bill thing."

Lucifer looked between his knees. "They can fix her, can't they? That's what this miserable building is for, correct?"

He heard Daniel blow out his breath forcefully. "Lucifer, I swear to-She's alive. They're going to do their best to keep her that way."

Lucifer half expected to see his sister floating by, but she wasn't busy here, tonight. It made him _slightly _relieved. He was going to retort anyway, when rolling wheels signaled Chloe's return.

The curtain drew back on sliding metal rings, and she was rolled in by a nurse, lying as pale as before. Her clothing had been removed and replaced with a drab cloth gown and a blanket. An IV had been hung over her head, threaded into her right arm and taped securely in place. She had been intubated, a machine breathing for her.

The doctor said he'd be back to discuss the various scan results in a bit, turning to leave as quickly as he came.

When Daniel only nodded helplessly, Lucifer jumped, grabbing the doctor's arm, eyes simmering. "Why not now?!"

The doctor leaned back, shaking him off. Lucifer thought he must be losing his touch. "Multiple surgeons have to be consulted - we don't yet know the best course of action - the wrong one could injure her further. We'll let you know when we have a care plan. Grab me again like that and you'll be escorted out."

Lucifer growled, standing his ground for a split second. "Inform me as soon as you have that."

The doctor looked like he was going to argue, then nodded and left again.

Dan stopped gripping the rails of the chair, nearly shouting, "dude, do not get us thrown out!"

Lucifer straightened his cuffs. "Fear not. He won't cross me again, or you."

Daniel gave him slightly more credence when another nurse came in to tell them they had to leave the ICU for the night. Lucifer merely waved his fingers at her and said something that coaxed her into relaxing 'visiting hours'. For once, Dan said nothing sarcastic about Lucifer's abilities.

Someone came in and handed Dan a small plastic bag, which he stuffed in his pocket without looking in it. The orderly said it was the only thing on her person that wasn't thrown away when they had to prep her. Whatever it was, he wasn't ready to deal with it.

Trixie even came in after a few hours. She said Amenadiel dropped her off. Dan didn't question it, too tired and too grateful to care how or why. Lucifer only noted that Amenadiel didn't come in himself. Maybe Maze told him to do it. He and Dan had hunched over their phones, texting a few people before getting listless. Penny was contacted but she was out of town, and would be returning as fast as possible. Linda said she'd come visit soon. Dan's parents sent their best, and prayers.

The staff recommended they go home. They would be notified immediately of any change in her condition.

Neither Daniel, Trixie nor he left.

Lucifer stopped hoping every knock on the doorframe to Chloe's cubby hole was someone with useful information. Or for that matter, someone useful. Usually, it was a CNA who came to check her pulse, her IV, blood pressure and temperature. Chloe was on monitors, but rounds were still made to visually check her. Professional and quick, they were in and out without fuss. As if Chloe wasn't the most important human in the world to him. Them, probably, he amended, glancing at Trixie and Daniel.

Once, someone came in to change the trash, mop the floor and wipe the unused TV screen. The nameless woman in scrubs barely looked up at them, mechanically efficient in her duties. In and out, dancing around cords and feet.

Nurses came in on the shift change, made polite talk, but had no new information.

Sometime in the night, an unrelated, unseen gurney rattled past without stopping.

Her primary doctor came again later, explaining that Chloe was in a coma, and it could be hours or days before she came out on her own. The comatose state was one of those things not well understood, except that it happens. Occasionally, they are medically induced, but not often - so that much was known. Her heart was healthy, as were her organs, save some swelling from shock, her blood results all within normal ranges. She had a line fracture on her skull, but it wasn't too serious, as long as her brain didn't swell. Her wrist had a sprain.

Lucifer asked, "It's a matter of time, then?"

"If she recovers, we don't know how long it might take."

"What do you mean, 'if'?"

Daniel looked like he was bracing himself, but let the doctor answer.

"Not all coma patients recover, it just depends. Her body is trying to protect itself. We started her on antibiotics, she has fluids and someone will be by to move her limbs. She might move on her own, but don't mistake it for her coming around, necessarily. Does she have a living will?"

Dan growled. "Maybe? I don't know if she changed it after we divorced, but...we had one."

"If you could bring it by, that would help."

Lucifer stood. "You're prepared to let her go _just like that_?"

Daniel rubbed his face. "We're cops. Detectives. We're required to have one. It's a standard thing, Lucifer. They ask everyone that question. Having one is just being responsible. Come to think of it, you should have one too, or any family might fight over your money when you die."

The Devil wasn't mollified. "_Mortals._ You'd think Dad would have created you with better back-up systems. My _family_ has no interest in my worldly possessions, no need to fret over _me_."

The doctor side-eyed him. Hard. "Perhaps you should take a break? We have a cafeteria."

"Or you could point me in the direction of the hospital pharmacy." He found to his own mild surprise that he didn't really _want_ to be distracted by drugs right now, not when she could snap out of this at any time.

Perhaps deliberately misunderstanding, he said, "there's a gift shop that also sells over-the-counter medications, as well. You're the, what, club owner guy, right?" He left out _eccentric _but everyone heard it anyway.

Dan cut off a response with, "he's a police consultant too. He was at the scene when Chloe was hit."

Lucifer was getting tired of sympathetic looks.

After the third time someone thought they were being comforting by saying, 'it could have been much worse', Lucifer nearly snapped. On the fifth, the only thing stopping his flood of anger from cresting was Chloe lying there, reminding him he couldn't protect her if he got escorted out.

He, the ex-Lord of Hell, was wrong about what constituted Hell. _This_ was Hell.

The first night, Trixie passed out on Daniel. She could hug her mom but she wasn't supposed to fall asleep with her - too many tubes. At some point, she got up again, used the bathroom and wandered over to Lucifer, who took the less comfy chair. And really, two chairs was pushing it in the space available.

"Have you slept?"

He startled a little. "No, child, I can go several days without sleep. Longer, if need be."

"Is mom asleep?"

Lucifer faced the child, his face reflected in her huge eyes. "She's unconscious. Her doctors-"

She whispered, "Can you do anything?"

His throat went dry. Technically, there was little he could do. "I...am not a healer. There is something you can do, though."

"What?"

"Pray. Someone might hear you. The odds of anyone actually _doing_ anything - well." He caught his breath as her lips tugged down at the corners. "I guess it doesn't hurt to try."

She nodded firmly, like she just might be the first little girl in history to have her prayers answered by anyone listening.

Stranger things have happened. He didn't lie, but there was no reason to steal her hope. "I wish you success."

* * *

Chloe blinked in grey light. Fog, maybe. Colorless and vague.

The mist dissipated slowly, some color and definition coming in, but not much, yet. She held as still as a deer in a meadow, looking around as the room, a hallway? became more focused. It seemed like she stood inside an old, old house, kept in good condition. Victorian, maybe, a wooden chair rail running along each side of the hall, plaster walls and deep pile rugs over hardwood.

There were wooden staircases that creaked, but not in her eye line. She couldn't say what floor she was on. But she _knew_ there were more than two. Just not how. Light filtered in from between heavy red velvet curtains. She peered out a window, but it was like looking into a sunrise, blinding. She took a step back and picked a direction to walk instead, blinking purple spots out of her vision.

Chloe stopped and looked down on the first step she took, feeling her toes encased in hard leather boots that hadn't been worn in yet. She was wearing her old Officer's uniform, crisp and free of lint or wear. She had cuffs, her firearm, the whole kit. Her hair was pulled back in a tight, clean bun like she used to wear all the time. Slowly, she pulled out her radio, twisting it on. "Anyone out there?"

Static. She clicked it off and put it back.

"Are you new, dear?"

Chloe turned around, confronted by a kindly looking older woman with light eyes who pricked at her memory, but she didn't know why. "Where am I?"

"Purgatory, dear. Can I show you to your room or would you like a snack?" the woman seemed to be a caretaker, dressed nicely but more like a personal butler than a cleaning woman. But she said...

Chloe felt her mouth dry up.

The woman continued, "you don't _need_ to eat here, but a spot of tea might settle your nerves, love."

_Love_.

"Where is Lucifer?"

She winced. "He's watching over you. On the earthly plane. Hasn't left your side more than he's had to."

"Wait, this is...purgatory? Am I dead?"

"No. Not...yet. you may yet return to your body, but I can't say either way myself. Your body is in a coma. Most who wait here no longer have a body, however."

Okay...okay…"so I'm in a hospital bed, hallucinating?" She didn't know why she felt asking that to an imaginary woman could possibly be helpful.

"If that makes you feel better, please go with that. Would you like to follow me to the kitchen, dear?"

* * *

The kitchen was almost right out of _Practical Magic_, full of herbs, antique dishware, a garden door and everything. Her guide put a kettle on and Chloe barely had time to digest more of the comfortable scenery before a delicate cup and plate appeared in front of her.

Well, she was out of her mind, dreaming or this was real. Anyway she cut it, she didn't seem to be in control.

It certainly tasted like tea. She held the thin, warm cup in her hands, a little milk, a little sugar. Her mind reeled, a pulse echoing in her skull. She just held the cup under her nose for a minute, inhaling the scents. There was a cookie on her plate too.

"...so, it's true? Heaven and Hell? Assuming I'm not inventing all of this?"

The woman nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"You may call me Persephone, if you're familiar with the story, though I have other names too."

She peered closely at the gray-haired woman.

"Lucifer isn't Hades, but I am one of a few who can travel where I please."

"Okay. Say that I'm not hallucinating, how long will I be here?"

"When and if your body heals, you'll return there. Otherwise, well, you'll finally meet Lucifer's father, whom he complains so much about." She tsk'd, frowning over her own cup of tea.

"Heaven?"

"You're surprised, dear? Yes, of course. Your own father is there as well."

Chloe's eyes threatened to well up. She reached up to brush back her long bangs, and her fingers came away bloody.

"What-?"

"Don't fret. The injuries of your body sometimes filter through to here, since you still have one. It will pass."

"What happened to me?"

"Accident. You can be sure the man who pushed you isn't likely to make amends enough to run into him again. Unless of course, you don't die, then, who knows?"

Her right hand felt warm. She looked at it. Someone back...home touched her and she tried to reach back, but it was gone again. She let her breath out, focusing on the present. Whatever it meant. The blood on her fingers was gone. She rubbed them together. Dry.

At least she wasn't in pain, aside from the attention-seeking pulse in her head. The hot tea was soothing on her stomach, even if it wasn't real.

"I'll bite. What do I do now?"

Persephone smiled politely. "You can mingle with the other residents in the common areas, rest in your room or simply hang about. You cannot harm or be harmed here. You cannot leave until your soul is at peace again, one way or the other. The garden is accessible, but limited. There's also balcony that looks out on the horizon. Most find it disquieting, so it's usually empty."

Chloe glanced at the gun on her belt.

"It's merely a reminder of who you were when you were most grounded in your life. Your items won't work here. You can change if you like."

Chloe decided not to delve into that just yet. Her hands fiddled with her cup. Looking down at them again, a glint caught her eye. The bullet necklace Lucifer gave her hung loosely around her neck. She gripped it, feeling the metal edges. She only had been wearing it a few days, just past her birthday. It was new, not particularly life-changing; not like graduating and becoming a cop.

"I didn't wear this before recently…" _Definitely not with the uniform_.

"It grounds you. It's important to you, even if you don't realize it. Does it mean something?"

"Yeah, a gift. From Lucifer, actually. I'm still a little embarrassed about it, where it came from, and I don't really know why he kept it or even had it made." Chloe gripped it between her thumb and forefinger, holding it up so the other woman could see it. "I guess he wanted to give it back to me, he said, and he made a bad joke about it, but it's kind of growing on me, and it's actually quite pretty. But, honestly, who keeps a bullet they were shot with?"

That got a reaction. "Lucifer? You... _shot_ Lucifer?" Persephone rubbed her face, her caretaker poise failing her. "Kids these days..."

Chloe grinned a little. "That's the thing. He kept trying to convince me he wouldn't be hurt if I did. And I still didn't really mean to, I"m really lucky I didn't get in trouble with the department, but he smoothed things over. I still don't know what came over me - maybe just for a split second, I believed he wouldn't be injured."

She grimaced over her own tea. "Well, he shouldn't have. Mortal weapons don't usually have any effect..."

"Oh, come on, seriously? Do you know him? I mean, if I'm not imagining all this?" then again, she was told where she was, but it had to be a crazy dream, right?

She smiled. "I did. He was a very bright boy. Is he spending a great deal of time on Earth?"

Roll with the insanity. Why not. "He owns a nightclub and he's my working partner. I've known him for years, now."

She smiled. "I'm glad he gets out of Hell. Dreary place. It's not actually his, you know."

Chloe drained her cup.. "What do you mean?"

"He didn't create it, he just runs it. There's no sunlight in Hell, he must miss it."

"Sure. Makes sense." she frowned, realizing that may have been more flippant than she intended.

Persephone shot her a look. "You aren't on good terms, then?"

Chloe fingered her necklace again, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. "No, we are, it's just hard when he won't drop...the act…"

"Hmmm."

"I mean, he can't be, _right_? It's an act? I _shot _him."

"Hmmm. It's probably for the best you don't believe him. If more mortals did, Father would probably truly force him to return to Hell. Upsets the balance, the system that Father put in place."

Chloe sat quietly a moment longer. Her tea was refilled. "But...why?"

"Wouldn't you leave Hell if you could?"

Chloe mulled it over. She wasn't ready to admit this wasn't a dream. It was incredibly realistic, but still.

She clung to her shriveling shreds of atheism, being told she would enter Heaven, despite her beliefs, or lack thereof. It was too much to hope for; a real chance to see her own father again? Her heart raced.

No. Not without real proof. Not even here. She wouldn't feed that. If she accepted that she was truly in _purgatory, _and accepted the words of her escort, it meant she was close to death. Accepting it meant one step away from life, not back towards it. There was too much yet to do, back home. This _can't _be real, a real place with real people.

Not yet.

"I want to see the balcony."


	2. Not Kansas

The structure on the back of the house wasn't really a 'balcony'. It was closer to a beach fishing pier, starting out high and wide with the platform jutting out over barely frothing water. The atmosphere was too quiet and calm for so much ocean. And that wasn't the least of the differences.

It was like walking out over a beach shoreline, except everything was a little bit...wrong. There was water and sky, technically, but only at fundamental levels.

It made her think of oceans on other worlds, what they might look like, things aliens might see on their beaches.

Or maybe Earth, at the very beginning. She read somewhere that the first single-cell organisms were enormous. Solid-looking bubbles or even such primordial creatures floated in the softly crashing waves and it pricked her senses in a way that made her _not_ want to run down to the water's edge and stick her toes in. The things moved like living jelly bubbles, and all close to the same size, like a box full of dirty packing peanuts. It looked kind of...gross, actually.

At least the things were only at the shallow edges. Out here past the breakwater, the water under her feet looked closer to ocean water, but the weight of it was still wrong somehow. Heavier. Thicker?

The sky here started jade green at the horizon and faded up to black. Just..._black_.

There were no stars, nor moon, but the grey pier was lit with diffused light that came from nowhere. She must have been staring at the sky for a long time, but with no celestial bodies there was no way to tell how long. No clouds either, but a wind had picked up and the waves on the sea might be a bit whiter now. Tides with no moon? She spent too long peering at the sky, looking for a dark moon or maybe a moon face not touched by sunlight.

Looking straight down over the railing again, she began to pick out darker flakes of something here and there floating on top as waves washed in. Every so often she got a whiff of sulphur, but it was faint and fleeting. The flakes gathered and clumped around the pylons in masses of wet, sticking _stuff_. It wasn't living. As she watched, one such flake floated under her nose, falling to kiss the pier railing.

She cocked her head, watching it.

_Ash?_

Another speck flew past her head and she turned back to look at the house again.

Behind her, it still braced against perpetual sunrise on the opposite side, though she saw no source of light, nor movement, like it was constantly battered by a steady beam of starlight pounding on the front facing side of...purgatory. The windows looking out this side were all shuttered. Her eyes refused to focus on the sides, where the glare was still bright enough to make them water.

What did that make this back half? What kept her standing here in spite of the 'disquieting' atmosphere that others apparently avoided? And it _was_ creepy. But she'd always loved haunted houses and scary sci-fi movies. The occasional whiff of sulphur and 'something' burning didn't drive her away either, reminding her of campfires and s'mores. The rotten egg smell not so much.

Staying out here beat facing anyone in the house, anyway.

Chloe began to believe her brain, if she had such a thing here - soul? Something in her told her she really wasn't in Kansas anymore. She'd never been there, actually, and now, maybe - _Oh, Trixie!_

She whipped around, eerie landscape forgotten. There were a few shadowy figures near the house but the caretaker woman had vanished entirely. Chloe didn't know how to get to 'her room' or where it was. She found her fingers clutching her necklace, tightly, instinctively. Rising panic reminded her of the persistent beating pulse in her head. She could just walk straight back on her own, but-

She turned again and spotted a man, scruffy but mostly clean-shaven with fluffy white hair standing a few yards away, catty corner to her on the other side of the pier. She tried him. "Hey! Have you seen Persephone?"

"Hmmm?" As he turned to her, there was something in his strong jawline that reminded her of, well, Lucifer actually. She found a small amount of comfort in that. The fickle sea breeze ruffled his hair gently when his light grey eyes met hers, and there was something calming about his presence. He dressed like she expected an older man might who went strolling on a chilly beach, in a white jacket and jeans. "She had to run. I can help you too though. I visit here often."

"I just wanted to ask if my daughter is alright. She must be worried sick." She huffed and looked down. "I mean, this is the weirdest dream I've ever had, but I'd still feel better if I could ask someone, even if they aren't real. I'm Chloe, by the way."

He looked mildly surprised at that, starting and looking more closely at her. "Chloe? You shouldn't be here!"

She had started to move closer to him, then froze in her tracks. "...I was told I could walk out here - there aren't any signs."

"I mean here!" He squinted a little, huffing out a breath and looking relieved. "You aren't dead."

"Uhm. I was told that, too, yes."

He lowered his guard again, a hair. "You can go anywhere you like inside the boundaries. Last I checked, your daughter was fine, but I didn't know it was _you_ that arrived here. When souls come in on the cusp, I sometimes like to visit them. Don't get out much, otherwise. At all, really."

"The cusp?"

"Of death. The brain is the last link to life, not the heart, but all of it is entwined with the soul. It's all so much more fragile than I intended, but maybe next time…" he trailed off, looking far off into the jade sky. It might be a bit more blue now.

"I'm sorry?"

"Lucifer ever tell you how the Big Bang actually started? The way he describes it is crude, but accurate."

Chloe did a double take. "Wait, you know Lucifer too?"

He rubbed his neck. "Not as well as I thought. Can't make offspring with minds of their own without missing something, forgot to carry a 1 somewhere, and it ran all the way through all of creation. That applies to you too, unfortunately. Of course, now that his mother is gone, I won't be able to start over again when this one ends. It's probably going to be very lonely."

Chloe waited while her brain or soul or whatever she was now turned it over. "You're telling me that you're God?"

He shrugged. "More like Architect. But that's what you lot call me."

A smile tugged at her lips.

"What?"

"That's was Lucifer calls us. 'You lot', but he does it with a British accent."

God chuckled. "He always did like picking up new accents. Never stuck with one for more than a few hundred years. I can see him liking British. Now, if he 'retired' to the UK, I promise you he would have picked something else, just to be contrary. New Zealand, probably."

Well. Her usual thought processes would probably never have invented a God who wasn't completely full of Himself. She _started_ to give more credence to the '_shit, I might actually be about to die at any moment_' theory. But that would mean…

No.

_Focus, Decker. _"Are you saying you aren't all-powerful? That you didn't make floods and parted seas, or - what's with all the water metaphors anyway?"

"Water is the most powerful force on Earth, outside the core of the planet itself. There would be no life without it, and I almost screwed that up too. Had to throw a moon into Earth just to make sure it ended up in the right place. Nearly every other viable system behaved itself. Yours? No, of course not. Had to be a pain in the ass." God kicked a pebble off the pier and into the sea. She tried not to think about whether or not it was a rock or one of the bubble things.

"What happened?"

He grumbled. "Did you know that eleven, _eleven_ elements had to be added to your star from other parts of the universe just to make sure life here arose? I _swear_, if you weren't a pet project...well, maybe I would have spent more time with my children and their mother. Maybe I could have changed things. Lucifer wasn't the only one who rebelled."

_Right. Lucifer's father is actually God. _"You think a _project_ is a good reason to neglect your kids? You threw Lucifer into _Hell._ I call that a few steps past 'negligence.'"

The eyes turned a bit dangerous and she saw Lucifer in Him more clearly than ever. "You mortals don't know what it's like. Even after getting into heaven, you don't get how it works."

"So tell me."

"Angels _aren't _human. They were never crafted to be; they have specific purposes. That's the price of immortality. In my early pride, we made them all beautiful, and perhaps that was my mistake more so than their mother's. Then again, they shouldn't have had character faults either, but as I said, Lucifer wasn't alone in his attitude." He looked away from her. "You wouldn't understand."

"You think my kid is perfect? You think I don't hope she decides to go into medicine or science or be the best adult she can be? I can't tell her to, or make her make good grades. I can only be there for her. Like you should be for your children."

This time his presence _inflated_. "You think I'm not doing what I can?"

"When Lucifer talks about you, he says you aren't listening to him, or anyone else."

His eyes crinkled at the corners and he looked at her again, a slight head tilt. "Oh, so he does remember me? I sometimes wondered if he's written me off entirely or not."

"Standing here, it seems like the right choice. What have you done for him?"

God stared at her, every mannerism so far _screaming_ a mirror of Lucifers. He gaped at her like she just asked where babies came from. He blinked. "I made _you_."

Chloe stared back.

"Your mother and father prayed for a child. I sent Amenadiel to bless them. It was one of those rare times when doing so wouldn't upend the system. So yes, I did something."

Her head spun. "...Okay. If I grant you it might be true...I was married when I met Lucifer. If things had gone a little differently, or had the timing been off a few years, we wouldn't have ever met. His friend had to die before he met me."

"You both live in the same city, you would have met one way or another."

"Do you know how big LA is?"

God waved her off. "Every talent my children have, I do to."

"Well. I see where Lucifer gets his basic attitude from. And that's not a compliment. Anyway, we aren't a couple, just partners. I feel for him but I can't date someone who thinks he's the Devil." She added, under her breath, "even if he is insanely good-looking and now I have to re-examine everything."

"Dear, you don't have to sleep with my son, just be there, if you want to. You've been a friend to him, something he's never had before. You're resistant to his power so he has someone in his life whose opinion he can trust. I don't care if you bed him or not, he's got enough of that." God trailed off with a mild grumble. "Of all my children, he hasn't gone off and spawned any half-angels, which I'm grateful for."

Chloe held still. "So you made me, to...be available? You know he has a therapist now?"

"Who isn't immune to him. Though I do wish he hadn't shown her." The sigh ran through his whole body. "The more who know...well, I won't begrudge him some freedom. As long as it doesn't break things. Amenadiel falling, that I didn't see coming. I should have alternated who I sent to deal with Lucifer each time."

She fumed, gripping her nails into the railing. She didn't quite trust herself to speak without venom, so she waited. The acid boiled up and she couldn't stop herself. "Do I even have free will?"

"Of course. You choose to be a Detective. You could change careers, request a transfer, go back to your ex-spouse, whatever you want. I hope you keep working with my son though. I've never seen him happier."

He seemed to gather Himself again. "Could you tell him...well, probably not."

"You mean if I go back? I'm still not convinced this is real." she wasn't exactly feeling up to performing favors though.

"You're thinking about it though. What would it take?"

He seemed earnest, like she was a puzzle he could solve, except one he made himself then forgot about. "Well, since, theoretically, I'm in my own head, I guess you'd have to show me something I've never seen before, couldn't invent…" she trailed off, looking again at the creepy sky and wincing.

"You've lucid dreamed before."

"Yeah. When I do, I try to fly, before I wake up."

"Can you do it now?"

Chloe shifted her feet. Willed herself to grow wings, but it didn't work. That's what she usually did in her lucid dreams.

Crap. It really didn't feel the same either. She felt her chest sink, heavy and full of anxiety. "What now?"

He looked at her again, a little sadly, maybe giving up for now on his arguments. "Now we wait."

She thought about Trixie. "You can't fix me then?"

"I..._would_ but it would destroy the universe. Maybe not right away, but-" He shrugged. "Your daughter prayed to me, by the way, asking for help. Many do."

Her mouth felt dry. "How many do you answer?"

"Almost none. Only when I can do it without breaking something else down the road, which is _exceeding_ly rare. If everyone were suddenly cured of cancer, can you imagine what would happen to humanity?"

God is going _Bruce Almighty _on me? "Fine. But why is there even cancer?"

"Like I said, equations. Forgot to carry a one somewhere. Cells must multiply to make complex life, sometimes the system breaks. Cancer may never actually be cured, because it's too hard-wired into how cells divide. Mortal life _has_ to break down within a certain time period, or the whole creation collapses in on itself. This isn't the first universe, and it won't be the last, though it might be _my_ last. I love all my children. At least they have a few places to go after death, for a time. Even _forever_ isn't truly forever. Even mortal souls would rather eventually fade into true death than hang around for the trillions of years this universe will take to truly die at its end. Even I don't have that luxury. You've had less than 40 years. Can you even fathom more than a few hundred?"

Great. She not only has to deal with beach-bum God, but the concept that even _Heaven_ wears out after a while.

He continued, "I think your odds are pretty good though. I'm glad you and Lucifer found each other, but, honestly, I'm terribly worried about what your death will do to him. For that alone, it's almost worth risking the unravelling of the universe."

Quietly, she said, "I would do anything for Trixie."

His eyes unfocused, distant. "Ah, but you aren't holding the weight of the lives of trillions of beings, are you?"

"I guess it's a good thing I'm not God then."

He nodded, very much like Lucifer. "Yes, it is."

Then her lungs were on fire and the world burned.

* * *

Dan had to go home.

To his credit, he offered to swing by LUX and get Lucifer clean clothes. Trixie had to at least _try_ to go back to school on Monday, but Dan was in contact with her teachers and working on a study plan. He had time off to deal with things, reluctantly, quietly making plans if Chloe didn't pull through.

The hardest part was that he knew she didn't want to be hooked up to machines forever. But as long as her brain was healthy, he wouldn't pull the plug, he told himself. But three days wasn't even close to 'forever', and Lucifer was not at all displeased with Dan's determination to wait it out.

Trixie squeezed her mother's limp hand one more time, confident. She told Lucifer that God had heard her, while he just sat, bemused.

Maze came around with his phone charger and a few other bits of electronics to keep him engaged. He quickly found out that WebMD was not a place one visited for useful information and stuck with phone games that often turned into money pits.

Once, in the middle of the third night, Chloe mouthed something around her tubes and turned over on her side. Lucifer ran to find a nurse but it turned out to be nothing.

He took to pacing the bleak halls and ordered flowers for seemingly random rooms of patients. Chloe wasn't allowed any in the ICU. 356 steps made a circuit of the bottom floor. 238 total to the door of the gift shop and back. 14 steps between floors in the stairwell, plus turns.

Chloe's limbs were encased in air pressure sleeves that made Darth Vader sounds as yet more machines cradled her, artificially massaging them to prevent bed sores. Lucifer let the ICU teams do their jobs, but growled about how much _handling _they had to do. They appreciated his concern as long as he stayed out of their way. He started to learn their jobs and watched them like a hawk to be sure they were doing everything _correctly_.

Lucifer stopped watching YouTube videos of various medical procedures in Dan's presence, who just looked at him like he'd grown another head when he caught him googling the things.

"What? All this stuff is inside you anyway, you aren't curious? I've certainly seen _bodies _any number of times, but this is different, cutting for the sake of fixing things."

"As opposed to what?"

Dan left for a while when Lucifer started talking about Hell.

Over the next few days, the nurses got to know him, and one male nurse, Jeff, came by to play chess with him over the course of his night shift. They had an extra set in the hospital break room. He often was drawn away, but he had a sharp mind for the game and could remember where all the pieces were. On the fourth night, they did away with the board and pieces and just called out moves to each other when they passed. Lucifer actually _lost _the first game and promised free drinks at LUX. He found the rounds of games immensely satisfying and made plans to reward Jeff somehow later with better than drinks.

By night six, Lucifer had fallen into a comfortable routine. He certainly hadn't forgotten her condition, but she was past most of the dangers, they said. Now it was just time to wait. He had bribed his way through most of the staff, with delivered baked goods, more flowers, and of course Trixie's bright, bouncing presence after school. She sat nearby and did her homework, happily talking about her mom, dad, Lucifer, anything.

She was a positive beacon of light and quickly had nurses and doctors alike wrapped around her little finger. They called her brave and she just nodded as if was any other option.

One night Daniel came back to wait again, now a full week later, something happened.

Chloe's brain had slowly started to reverse swelling over several days, which was good news. Her blood pressure dropped to healthier levels.

Then her monitors started screaming and her body clenched and suddenly people where everywhere.

She threw a blood clot. Dan clutched his chair while Lucifer burned with impotent rage as nurses ran her gurney away for emergency surgery. A doctor finally told them it wasn't uncommon for that kind of thing to happen, not to worry, she was already in good condition for such a surgery, odds were in her favor.

It didn't make the following five hours any less tense.

Daniel had to talk him down from going after her himself.

They waited in her empty ICU space, looking at nothing. Dan got a text that he scowled at and shoved his phone back in his pocket. Something crinkled and he pulled a bag out that pricked at Lucifer's memory.

"Is that important?"

Neither of them looked good, both men a little more scruffy than fashion dictated. Lucifer didn't think he'd ever seen him with any facial growth at all before.

Dan clutched it out of his pocket, slightly white-knuckled. "I haven't looked. The doctor gave it to me that first day. I forgot it was in this jacket, I guess."

It held something small. He gave it to Lucifer. "I think I know what it is. You should hang onto it." Dan added, "she, we, haven't worn wedding rings in ages. I know it's not that." He rubbed his ring scar with his opposite thumb, unconsciously, with a twinge of a habit dying hard.

Lucifer took it, eyes running over the bag curiously. He pulled it open, looking in to see a glint. Inside was the necklace he'd had made for the Detective. Returned to him. He must have sat there staring at it for several minutes.

"Hey! Lucifer!"

He blinked in response. His eyes were absolutely not threatening to well up. "Yes?"

"You can put it on her when she wakes up, give it back to her. She'll want it back. She can't wear it now, but she will, okay? When she gets better."

The dark rawness that had been scrabbling at his chest like a pack of hungry rats loomed closer. For the first time since darkening the hospital doors, he asked, "what if she doesn't?"

He swore to all things unholy and holy, if Dan said the wrong thing right that second, Lucifer was going to beat him to death with whatever blunt object was handy.

Then he took a shaking breath and reminded himself that this wasn't Dan's fault. It was someone else's. Someone he should pay a visit to. Someone his anger _deserved _to be focused on.

Right as he got up to fly from the room, literally and unheeding of the humans in sight of him, Chloe came back. The surgeon with her assuring them both that the clot was only in her lung, and dealt with, it never went to her heart or brain. He said there was a new port at her groin in case they had to do it again, and the site had to be checked in a few hours for bruising. Her first IV needle had been moved to her other arm.

Dan asked the surgeon questions that he knew to ask, while Lucifer sat and listened to the back-and-forth. Over and over he was reminded that he wasn't human. Dan knew what to do. Lucifer didn't. He could throw money at his problems, but nothing else except righteous fury. Sometimes that worked too though.

He needed a cigarette.

The necklace went into his pocket and he took the elevator to the roof. He stood in the middle of a helipad, facing his cold stars.

It wasn't his intention to yell at the sky, but sometimes it helped. If only himself.

"You made her! Is _now _the time you decided not to interfere? What, set her adrift like Moses in a bloody basket? Thrown to the wind like so much chaff!? Have you thought about what this is doing to _her_ family?"

He took a long drag, glaring up. "If you're going to abandon all of creation, at least be _consistent_ about it, would you!?"

As always, no answer was forthcoming.

"Fine. Stay in your comfortable neck of the woods! Paradise is probably much quieter without me around, anyway. You always had to control the chaos, didn't you?"

The stars didn't respond.

Right. He had a quick trip to make. He hadn't forgotten about the man who pushed her.


	3. Closer Than You Think

Chloe groaned.

She woke up in a soft bed with curtains, Persephone sitting nearby.

Her head _hurt_. Of all the dreams she'd ever had, none had done this. She'd had 'false start' dreams before, but this was like waking up with an atrocious hangover _and _asthma. She lay there and breathed until it evened out.

When she sat up, her head lurched but then the pain began to dissipate. Her stomach was back to where it started when she appeared here; acidic and roiling.

Persephone pressed a cool glass of water in her hands. She drank it slowly, feeling better by the second. Chloe stared into her drinking glass, processing, what her collapse might mean. Her voice came out shaky. "Did I die for real?"

The woman shook her head. "Something happened to your body back on earth. But they fixed it. If you were dead, you wouldn't be in pain now. If you wake up soon though, you're going to be terribly sore." She chuckled.

Chloe's blonde hair was loose now, and her clothing less restricted. She slapped her chest and came into contact with the necklace, relieved it was still there. "So...God didn't, uh, attack me or something just then?"

"Not at all. He brought you here right away. Remember the blood on your head?"

She reached up and touched the point of pain, but there was no blood this time. But points on her body pinched a little. She touched the inside of her left arm. "That must be where I'm hooked up." She'd donated blood enough times to know where her few good vein spots were. Her arm had dull pressure right where she would have an IV and she didn't remember feeling anything like that before. Was that good or bad that she could feel it?

She swallowed. "Is...is God coming back?"

"He hasn't left, child. He's in the breakfast nook."

"Are you an angel?"

"A step down. The Silver City - Heaven, has more residents than just angels. I have a purpose here."

Chloe frowned. "So this is your _job_?"

She ducked her head. "Father, or Grandfather if you prefer has a lot to manage." She smiled. "I like it here, and it's not my only _job. _Do you need anything?"

Something had been on her brain since yesterday. "Can I see _my_ dad? Speak to him somehow?"

"Sorry, not unless you actually pass into Heaven. I might be able to get a message to you, but, all things considered, visitors _here_ are highly restricted. Angels can come here, if there's someone you want to speak to in particular."

"Can...can Lucifer come?"

Her face fell. "I'm sorry, no. He's not permitted, here or in Heaven. Amenadiel could come, had he not fallen. Anyone else?"

Chloe shook her head, regretting the action immediately. "I don't think I met any of Lucifer's other brothers or sisters. I think I know a demon though, now." When she woke up, she had _so _much to talk about. She thought about the look on Lucifer's face when when she does and his big brown eyes are right there. _Hey,_ _I met your Dad, He really is kinda clueless. Also He just told me that He made me too, but hopefully not in the same way he made you. Since that might make us sort of siblings which is a whole new thought process I hadn't planned on having, ever - there are feelings I have to separate from what I thought was a fake personality. God._

_He was real...he hadn't lied. She truly was the friend of the Devil, and the Devil needed her. _

Persephone, ignorant of Chloe's mental monologue, looked like she bit a lemon. "Demons are _not _permitted here either."

_Sigh. _"Well, I guess I should have expected that. Apparently I'm living with one, but she hasn't been anything other than...weird."

The woman's face conveyed everything and nothing, ending in a twitch. "They're dangerous. She's been out of Hell too long. They aren't made to be loose."

Chloe didn't ask if she thought the same thing about Lucifer. "You knew him as a child?"

"From a distance, but more later as he matured - no angel was ever truly a child, you know. He always had a smile for anyone, even me. The other Archangels were aloof, stern. Not him. Then he Fell and...no one talks about him anymore, except out of pity."

"He...still smiles." The main reason she put up with his ridiculous shenanigans; he radiated a genuine warmth wherever he went. "He plays piano, and sings in his club."

Persephone melted a little, looking away. "Ah, but to hear him sing in the City, in the center square. He sang both solo and in choir, and it enraptured all who heard him. I'm sorry you'll never hear it, nor will anyone else ever again."

Chloe felt her jaw clench. "But I've heard him sing in a crowded room, to me. If Heaven won't take him back, it's your eternal loss," and she heard the truth of her own words, treasuring the memory.

She closed off. "There's no 'if'. God cast him out. He can't come back. That's how it works. What's done is done and the word of God is law."

"Well. I guess I shouldn't keep God waiting. I have a few more questions for Him. Maybe I can get Him to bend the rules a little." _I can bend Lucifer to my will from time to time, why not?_

She followed Chloe out, pointing her toward the kitchen and moving off another direction, firm in her own resolve, but wishing her well all the same. "Good luck."

* * *

Chloe strolled carefully. She took her time finding her way again. Her aches were a comforting reminder she was still alive, somewhere, equally aware it was a strange thought to hold onto.

Instead of the white haired man, she found a short-black haired woman sitting, fingers tented over her tea and head bent. The first pair of angel wings Chloe had ever seen rested lightly on her back, half-furled about her shoulders. They were huge and dark, yet had a warmth radiating off them. The woman looked up to meet her eyes, surprised and clearly hesitant to speak. "Chloe?"

There was a frog in her throat. "Uh...God?"

The woman burst into peals of laughter, a hand coming up over her mouth. "Oh, good one. No. I'm Azrael." She wiped tears from her eyes. "Oh, Haha. Dad. Right. No."

Chloe didn't find it funny, but the angel's shoulders shook with humor and it was hard not to be infected by it. "Sorry. Persephone said He was here."

"Just missed Him. He'll be back. Want some tea?"

She stopped by the table. "How do you know my name? Is that an angel thing?"

"No. Uhm. I know Ella, but she thinks I'm a ghost. So I've seen you sometimes when I check on her. I hope you go back soon. I don't want to escort you to Heaven. You don't belong here, missy." she wagged her finger at the last statement.

Chloe picked a plain, flat cookie from a plate on the table. "I keep hearing that. Why would you take me to Heaven? Are you special?"

She smiled sadly, again reluctant to answer. "I'm known as the Angel of Death."

She coughed on her bite of cookie. "Literally?"

"Yeah, I just dropped off a few dozen souls here, so I'm taking a short break." She was doing something in her lap with her hands. Chloe tipped her head up, curious. A pair of pointed black cat ears popped above the rim of the table, followed by a '_mew_?' there was a long white stripe between them, followed by warm, gold eyes appearing over the edge of the table.

Chloe's heart stopped and she scrambled around to the other side of the table. "_Charlie_?"

Azrael paused in her petting to address the cat directly. "You sneaky bastard. Is that why you followed me? You knew she was here, didn't you? You didn't tell me she was yours!"

"Mew." Charlie rolled his eyes in the way only cats can; shifting his gaze and licking a white paw.

Chloe's face nearly cracked with her smile. "Charlie! Oh I missed you!" she tucked her legs under her on the floor next to the chair, holding her hands out to him.

He jumped into her arms and curled up hard against her chest, purring madly. His black and white coat was as healthy as it had been in the prime of his life. He pushed his face into hers, vibrating hard enough for her to feel it in her bones.

Azrael made a pained noise. "You know this isn't allowed, Charlie." At the same time, she made no move to dislodge him.

Charlie ignored the angel, regardless.

Chloe wiped tears from her eyes. "Cats do go to heaven?"

She sighed. "Many do, but it's complicated. Most cats and dogs end up reincarnating back into the system, but a number stay here. Ferals who pass from life don't go anywhere, like most wildlife and domestic critters raised for food. Heaven is NOT full of squirrels and cows, if you were wondering."

Chloe didn't look up from nuzzling her old friend. "Why not?"

Azrael rubbed Charlie's back. "I have to hear the call of something dying. They can't call without a soul. Loved pets, ones who form awareness...grow a soul, for lack of a better word. It's one of those things I don't think Dad planned on happening. Charlie must be something special, though to have stayed around."

Chloe held him closer, arms tight around his small form. "He was there for me when my dad died, every single night for months, he never left my side. He passed a few years after that; he was already getting old and cranky by then." She sighed. "Seeing him here, well, makes me want to just stay here. Almost."

"Ugh. You're making me sad. That's why pets aren't supposed to come here, at least not ones with personal connections. I'm sorry about this."

"Why?"

Azrael stroked soft cat ears. "Dad didn't tell you? If you live, you won't remember any of this. Once you die for real, you'll get it back again, if that's a comfort. I don't know if Charlie will keep waiting for you that long, but he might. You never know, with cats."

Chloe just shook and held Charlie, tears leaking anew. She knew it was the truth as the angel said it and it made her cold. The cat just purred, marking her face with his.

The angel continued, "but he will. Charlie has this now, and he won't forget."

Wetness soaked into his fur and he just curled his head against her face all the more. Chloe choked, "good. He can meet my daughter in, oh, a few hundred years or so. But not sooner."

She was going to lose all of this. It felt like a punch to the gut. _Please let me keep this, just this._

The angel smiled faintly, but Chloe didn't see it or the strain behind it. "Pets and kids. The best part of my job, really."

"Why?"

"They never go to Hell."

Chloe didn't let go for a long time.

* * *

Lucifer stormed into the precinct. The green-eyed lieutenant barely reacted. "Lucifer, you finally back at work?"

"I need to know where the miscreant who tried to murder Chloe is being held."

Pierce tilted his head slightly. "Oh. That guy? He's out on bail, I think. Why?"

"So I can dole out some proper punishment of course. He doesn't deserve to be walking the streets, free."

"He won't _be _free for long, Lucifer. He'll have a trial and go to jail where he belongs."

"Honestly, why is _bail_ even a thing?"

He didn't restrain his eye roll. "Innocent until proven guilty, Lucifer. As you're _well_ aware."

Lucifer _harumphed_. "Well. Still doesn't mean I can't pay the arsehole a little visit does it? Maybe I can get him to confess to something that'll get him put away faster."

"Sure. Or maybe you don't need to wander around threatening suspects and generating a lawsuit for them."

"I won't do any permanent damage to the fellow. Scout's honor."

"You were never a Scout."

"True. Still."

"Stay _away _from things outside your job description, Lucifer. There's a dozen witnesses, he won't walk."

"My official job description or unofficial one?"

"I thought you told everyone you retired from Hell or whatever. So, sure, either. Leave the guy alone."

Lucifer glanced at Dan's empty desk, turning his back on Pierce deliberately and talking to himself, "you know what they say…want something done right…"

"What was that?"

Over his shoulder, Lucifer said, "I heard you."

"Good. So we understand each other?"

"We do, at that."

* * *

Lucifer found the man's name and address in the files on Dan's desk. He memorized it and left the file where it was.

The address was to a place in a building of ratty apartments. The elevator was broken so Lucifer took the stairs two and three at a time, practically leaping the entire final flight to the seventh floor. He startled a homeless man who huddled on the floor in the hallway. The smell of cheap burning drugs twisted unpleasantly in the air over him.

Lucifer slowed his stalking pace as more of the hovering desperation crept into his senses. A couple argued loudly behind the nearest locked door, reverberating several feet into the walls. A light overhead was out. The sour taint of urine pervaded one corner opposite the stairwell.

It reminded him, sharply, of not-so-modern London, when plagues were blamed on cats and sanitation wasn't a primary concern.

Not his favorite visit, that time. Even the third storey seats in the Globe Theatre didn't sit far enough above the floor to really dent the stench of unwashed humans below. He wasn't unhappy to see hose go out of style some years later. Still, witnessing the plays as they came out was something to behold.

The door with black metal numbers jogged him into the present. It was quiet in there. He paused, deciding at the last possible second to knock sharply rather than kick the door in. He gave it a full half second before unlocking it himself and shoving the door open.

It crunched against garbage. He frowned, then pressed on. "Mr. Nunez? The Devil has come for his due."

Flicking a light on, Lucifer came face to face with - an elderly woman, who blinked slowly up at him. "Hello? Are you looking for Junior or Senior? The door should have been locked...and the rent isn't due yet, I'm pretty sure."

Lucifer hesitated in the doorway. This wasn't the side of suspects he usually saw. The apartment was in ghastly disarray; the garbage behind the door was hardly alone in both volume and smell. He followed twisted lines of mess to the man who shoved Chloe, recognizing him instantly, except...he was a kid.

Maybe fifteen, hadn't even grown in proper facial hair. Lucifer honestly hadn't paid attention to the case file details beyond the name and address. They gawked at each other for several seconds as Lucifer's rage fought a losing battle against someone who couldn't possibly have realized what the consequences of their actions entailed. He hoped. He'd known adolescents older than their years, and adults who went through life like teenagers. Age didn't _necessarily _matter here, but it very well might.

He worked his jaw, forgetting the woman and focusing on the boy, both significantly shorter than he. "Why?"

Julio Nunez swallowed. "What do you want, man? I have drugs, but I only deal at the corner, not here."

Lucifer persisted. "I'm with the LAPD. Why did you push the Detective last week?"

The woman, seemingly oblivious to the boy's first statement, widened at Lucifer's question. "Julio! What did you do?"

He cringed. "That's why mom bailed me out, remember? I panicked, I'm sorry. Is she okay?"

His breaking expression only partially pacified Lucifer. Then he remembered she was hovering between life and death because of this useless piece of flesh. "No. She most certainly is not. She's in a coma, thanks to you."

He had the grace to recoil, fear crossing his face. "I'm sorry, man. I had to get back to my grandma. I didn't want to leave her alone. My mom is on the night shift and she can't be here by herself. I didn't mean for the lady to get hurt."

Lucifer restrained the impulse to scream down at him, them both. The grandmother tugged on his sleeve.

"What?"

"Would you like a cookie? I made some fresh just now."

Lucifer turned in a half circle, noting a distinct lack of either cookies or the smell of baking. Julio swallowed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Nana, we ate them this morning."

"Oh. I can make more."

"Go back to bed, okay?"

Lucifer held perfectly still while the two bickered and the grandmother shuffled off without a backward glance. Julio found a chair without offering one. "I haven't broken my bail. You don't look like you're here to take me in."

_I came here for justice._

_You hurt someone I care for._

_I came here to break you._

His anger slowly died a bitter, ashen death, caving in on itself in a burst of spent, cracking logs in an old fire.

Lucifer fished in his pocket for a cigarette and came out closed around the necklace. He clenched it like a rosary. The edges bit into his fingers in a way that wasn't quite satisfying. He missed the pain it might have caused had he been in her presence, if he gripped it hard enough. Sensing the metal closer to breaking itself than his own skin, he slowly, slowly let up the pressure lest he deform it.

"You hurt my partner. Gravely. She might not live. If she doesn't, I'm going to make your every second left of this miserable existence a personal, living Hell."

His eyes sharpened, then glassed over. "You think I'm not already there, bro? Look around you."

Lucifer ignored him. He'd seen worse. Caused worse. "Whatever Hell you _think_ you're trapped in, I _can _and _will_ make it unlivable."

The man-child appeared unimpressed. "I'll probably be tried as an adult, and by the time I get out, I won't be able to go to school, and who would pay for it? I screwed up badly, once, over a bad decision. Is the rest of my life over because of that?"

_Yes. _He wanted to scream. So he did, a strangled, frustrated syllable more sound than word. "-But my Father will forgive you if you repent. Probably. Who knows. He's not talking much these days. You'll have more luck than I, certainly. It's just as well I'm not permitted in Heaven, I would not want to see you _there_."

Julio stilled. "Who are you again?"

He smiled, as cold and dead as his most distant stars. "Lucifer, a son of God, cast out to rule Hell for all eternity. Whatever your fate, however your life unfolds, you do not want to see me on your doorstep again."

The adolescent believed him, eyes huge and gratifyingly scared. "I didn't mean to hurt her, I swear. I just needed to get away!"

"Yet, that's exactly what you did, and still you were apprehended, so it bought you nothing but pain, and my personal attention. And by extension, you caused the pain of her child, her friends, her fellow officers and her douche of an ex-husband."

He rubbed his blood-drained face, panic and guilt edging across his features. "What can I do?"

"As far as I'm concerned, not a _damn_ thing, except pray she doesn't die, not that anyone out there is listening. If you attend services, seek out your church leader, if you even have one not corrupted by the system it claims to revere."

Lucifer turned and left, slamming the door behind him, unable to stay longer without expunging his wrath on someone or something. Half a decade ago, the lad's age wouldn't have made a bit of difference to him. Perhaps if he had more to show than his stupid wings, if he still had his face to put the fear of the Devil in him - well, he'd achieved _something_ at least, even if it felt hollow.


	4. Awareness

Rules 4 - awareness

Chloe felt more alone and more alien as the time dragged, seemingly without any visible markers. There was no sunset, no sunrise, no clocks and even the growing things in the garden seemed perpetually the same height, but it was the only place here with _life_.

Knowing what would come, she didn't talk to anyone save Persephone, not caring to lose more memories than she had to. She made herself sleep and eat, lest she have absolutely nothing to track the passing of time by.

God found her again in the garden, waiting for her to decide to socialize. She let Him wait a bit.

She was braiding long green leaves she'd ferociously plucked from huge ferns and trying to make something artsy out of it. There actually was an 'art room' but she couldn't be alone there.

She sighed, mentally commanding her hair into a ponytail, and it responded to her wish. A lack of junk drawers full of rubber bands wasn't a huge problem here.

At the edge of her vision, he appeared to be meditating with crossed legs and closed eyes, dressed much the same as before, except in blues and greys; jeans again and a pullover. God seemed to prefer modern wear. Chloe resigned herself to the fact that He was not going away, speaking but not turning. "Hey, Chuck."

He cracked an eyelid. "Pardon?"

"I'm not calling you 'God'. Chuck is God on _Supernatural _so I'm calling you Chuck." She didn't elaborate, but she sensed wry, tolerant amusement all the same.

"Chuck is fine, too. I answer to many names, even been prayed to that way. Doesn't bother me." He tilted his head. "That show went off the rails, didn't it?"

Chloe looked up and quirked an eyebrow.

"I have downtime too. And you stopped watching it, so we can't even complain about the last season together."

Chuck looked so genuinely _annoyed_ that she didn't suppress a bark of laughter, still fiddling with the torn plants in her fingers. She had a rough bowl finished in her pile, and impulsively grabbed it and handed it to Chuck. "Here, this is for you."

He took it exactly the way she did when Trixie gave her a lumpy clay pot she made in second grade, with an encouraging smile but without the hug.

She kind of really wanted a hug.

Instead, she shifted her knees again and silently started working on a placemat, braiding a set of green grasses instead of ferns. "Why are you here?"

"You're unhappy. I thought you might want to know you're healing on your own, back on earth. Something might still change, but you could wake up very soon."

"...could?"

"Comas are tricky. Your primal brain hasn't decided it's safe yet, and you'll still have more healing to do once you do wake up, so it might be better this way for a little longer, while your other injuries recover."

Chloe wiped at her eyes. "Why are you really here?"

He cracked a smile. "Still the good Detective? Well, favors are Lucifer's thing, not mine."

_Lucifer. I miss you. _Her heart ached. _I wish you could come here_. "I thought you had all your kids' superpowers."

"It's something he does, not a superpower. His talent is desire, in all forms. Even if 'favors' were a talent somehow, I don't _trade_." He chuckled like it was a joke.

She looked up carefully at that. Chuck didn't have the compelling eye thing Lucifer did, or maybe he just wasn't using it. Now that she focused on him, she could _see_ some of God's latent power, resting like a trained stallion, an aura of invisible fire, or force. Perhaps unintentionally reminding her who He was.

She bent back over her task. "Yes, I've witnessed that much first hand, the desire thing. I have a question and I don't know if I want the answer. You said you made me, in response to my mother's prayer…"

He shrugged. "Your soul would just be in a different body. That's all."

"What?"

"If your mother's prayer could not have been answered. You would still exist. Maybe not there or that year, but somewhere. Most likely you wouldn't have met Lucifer, however. Much of the same things would have probably have happened - a career, a child."

"Oh." It was a sad sound. In spite of all the insanity that invaded her life, she was happy Lucifer was there. "Do I have to lose _everything _when I heal? All my memories of this place? Can't you just convince me this was a dream?"

"I'm sorry, but the cycle could break. Humanity rarely functions well in the fore-knowledge of an afterlife."

"Dan's Catholic though. They all teach it."

"And yet so many disregard and underestimate those teachings, do they not? Dan himself doesn't truly _believe. _Few humans do, it's far too much to blindly accept. In any case, it's not required. You're here, as are other atheists and agnostics, though you are special."

"I didn't believe Lucifer could be who he said he was, and he's been there by me this entire time."

"And you won't believe when you return."

Chloe rolled her necklace in her fingers. It never failed to be there when she reached for it. That had to mean something. She must have put voice to the thought.

"It means that it doesn't _matter_ if you believe him or not. You care for each other."

"He doesn't, I mean, he is who he is."

Chuck smiled. "And he won't alter how he lives until he believes that, too. But he does care for you, even if he's bad at sorting his own emotions. He hasn't had anyone care for him, want something other than a favor, in a very long while. It's still new and precious to him, and he treats it like a bubble that might burst and vanish."

Something warm settled into her chest. She took a long, deep breath, then another. "I think. I think I might be going back now."

Chuck got her to lie down in the garden on her back. "If you're in the same position as your bed, it will help. Lucifer isn't back yet, however. I'll try to delay you until then."

_He left?_ "How long has it been?"

"A bit more than a week, not too long. Time is different here and it's going to make you disoriented." He held her hand, stroking it softly.

"Does it matter then? If he's back yet?"

"I'd like you to pass on a message, if you don't mind too much. I can't talk to Lucifer directly, but if I give you words, you might repeat them on awakening."

Her brain was getting slightly sluggish. "But I won't remember anything."

"There's a short span while you return to your body that overlaps here."

"What do you want me to say? Have you done this before?"

"Many times. Always with mortals as the targets of a message, however."

She pushed her shoulders up. "Wait, did you know this would happen?" _He liked to visit those on the cusp, he said. _

"As I said, I have all the talents of my children, including foresight. It muddles a bit because of the separation of the planes of life and death."

Of anything Lucifer ever said about his Father, none of it had never been favorable. She twitched. "You're using me as...as _voicemail?_"

Chuck sighed. "I can no longer interact directly with the universe I created. It expanded beyond my ability to comfortably manage. Anything I touch can alter your world in dangerous ways, if I'm not careful. This too, is a risk, but a small one. Hospital staff are used to delirious outbursts, and oddly enough, your ex-husband has some natural resistance to the divine; he will likely be fine." A funny look crossed His face but she couldn't translate the emotion. "And in some cases, no resistance at all. Can't say I blame him."

"Huh?"

"Please ignore the ramblings of a melancholy God. If you love something. Set it free. I did exactly the wrong thing. Well. Maybe my son isn't lost to me, yet, even if my wife is. Yes, I am using you for my own purposes, but I'm not above opening a way back for him, he need only meet me halfway."

Chloe closed her eyes, holding a palm over her face against a light that wasn't there a minute ago. Ever so faintly, she heard a steady _beep_ of a heart monitor. It echoed her own heartbeat here but it was off just enough to feel and sound jarring to her senses. One was slower and she couldn't tell which. Chuck pushed a pillow of moss under her head.

The fingers of her other hand clutched a thin, starched sheet that didn't touch the rest of her body. "Why...why should he do _anything? _You _threw _him out."

Chuck had a hand on her shoulder and it gripped then relaxed. "Child, he is _meant _to return home, but he cannot do that until he repents for his sins. I've foreseen that he will return someday, but not when. I have a not-very-secret hope that he will follow you back here when it's truly your time, that he will see the error of his ways." The voice was warm and thoughtful.

And it chilled her to the bone. She fought to clear her head, just in case God really was omniscient. Either it worked or He wasn't paying attention. "Hell wasn't punishment enough?"

She kept her eyes closed but heard His slow exhale. "Punishment is nothing if it does not achieve a goal. Ruling his own realm has only made him bitter."

"Gee, I wonder why."

"You have a better idea, my child?" somehow the words were more sarcastic than the tone, teasing as if she _were_ a child.

A shiver wracked her body and she began to _feel._ The words she said hurt, because she didn't believe He _had_ to - "Forgive Lucifer. Write off whatever he did."

God pulled away. She thought maybe He was shaking His head. "My sweet, innocent mortals. You have so far to go yet. My standing in the Silver City must be unquestioned. I cannot let any of the fallen return without absolution of their sins."

_-Chloe?-_

She grit her teeth. "What would you have me parrot to him?"

_Sigh_. "A name. One who did return. Did you know Lucifer prayed to me for your life? It was an extraordinary gesture, a prayer that I put the world at risk to answer. There's still fallout from that, you should know. It got him halfway back home just with that one sacrifice, that one set of actions. The rest requires words."

Chloe peeked out through her fingers. "What words?"

"He must come before me and swear a new oath of fealty. I think when you pass from your world, permanently, he will choose to bend his knee to me once more. It's no less than he'd done before he was cast out, and no less than I require of all my children."

Chloe was suddenly looking forward to being an atheist again. "Better to rule in Hell, isn't that how it goes?"

God snorted. "He _left _his domain, remember? And you won't go _there_. You were always meant to come to Heaven."

She jerked involuntarily. "What?"

He held her hand again. "Your soul will always be safe. Now, child, Lucifer is nearly returned. These are the words-"

She coughed a laugh. "You're probably just going to piss him off more." The cough was followed by a breath that felt too deep.

God ignored her, grating out words in something sort of a Latin-sounding sentence.

Everything went black.

Then white.

Then strange sounds fell out of her mouth as plastic tubes were tugged from her throat with wet noises and chapped lips and beeping and sliding things over her dry tongue and-

"Chloe!"

Her eyes opened to Dan's soft blue ones, and movement on her other side revealed Lucifer, half out of breath and clutching the bed rail with white knuckles. "Detective! What did you just say?"

Dan shot the Devil a sour look. "It wasn't anything, man, she's been out for a long time, give her space."

"She said..._something _in the language of the angels. I missed the first part."

The sour look did not go away. "Really?"

"Well, yes, not that I'd expect anyone mortal to understand it. Or even speak it."

Chloe licked her lips and made a rough sound. The men redirected their attention to her.

The nurse finished unwrapping the tubes and held out a small cup of water. "Here, take small sips, if you can. Just rest while we get everything sorted, alright? You need to stay one more night so we can watch you, but you should be able to go home soon, honey."

Everything _hurt_. She was able to lean forward a tiny bit and manage a sip. The tepid tap water was heavenly, soaking into her very being like the finest wine.

Maybe she could get some decent painkillers if she was stuck here longer. Chloe tried to wipe her face but her hands were slow to respond. She tried again while her visitors hovered, nearly slapping herself in the face. "What happened?"

Lucifer plowed ahead while Dan looked like he was gathering words. "Got your noggin knocked up, darling. You're patched up but on strict bed rest until you recover. I'm happy to come by and make sure you're tucked in any hour."

Dan rolled his eyes. "I can keep Trixie until you're up again, or just stay for a week or few days to help out."

Chloe covered her face with one hand and the action triggered a weird feeling of _deja vu._ It passed and she looked between her fingers. "I am going to regret waking up, aren't I? Thank you both. I can take care of myself-"

The doctor cleared his throat. "Actually if you're going to be alone, you should stay here at least a few more days first."

"Maze can-"

"No!"

"Absolutely not."

She dropped her hand. She _hated _feeling _vulnerable_. So completely helpless, like she couldn't fight off a kitten if she wanted to.

Dan stood a little straighter. "It's no trouble. I'll even bring you your favorite pie."

Lucifer coughed. "Fine. I'll see to it that actual meals are available since one cannot live on pie alone." He looked like he wanted to ask what kind she liked.

If she didn't tell him there was going to be one of every dessert pastry imaginable in her kitchen by morning. She held back a laugh she knew would hurt. "It's apple. I like apple pie. Dan is pretty good at them."

Dan bit his lip but Lucifer beamed. "Boring pie it is. Naturally he'd have a flair for boring pies. I'm sure I can find you the best one in LA."

"Thanks, but I really don't want one covered in gold leaf. How long was I out? Where's Trix?"

Lucifer grinned slyly. "Three years, love."

Dan twitched. "It's only been a week!"

He just smiled down at Chloe, who smirked and swatted in his direction. He caught her hand reflexively and replied to Dan, "in-joke. No more meeting like this, allright? Might get tedious if it happens again." His words were teasing but he held her palm like it was life-line. "I've got your birthday gift here, if you want it back-"

Chloe squeezed his hand, an urgent feeling rolling up in her chest. "Put it on me?"

Lucifer froze for a second, then pulled out the necklace, carefully untangling the chain that knotted from being stuffed in too many pockets. "Yes, you'll be wanting to wear something other than that dreadful hospital scrap."

"Shut up and give it here, I'll do it myself."

In spite of her threat, He fixed the clasp at her neck and slid it around to the back, leaving the bullet resting between her breasts. "There we are. How are you feeling? Ready for some recuperation?"

"I feel alive. But both of you look like you've been in a train wreck."

Her ex just grunted, so naturally Lucifer said, "hardly, the train would be worse off. Haven't you ever seen _Hancock?_ It would be very much like that. Unless you were there, of course. Let's not do that."

Dan wandered off to find paperwork to sign.

* * *

Lucifer placed the length of his penthouse. By now, the Detective's apartment would be overflowing with floral arrangements, perched all over for her arrival back home.

He waited impatiently on Amenadiel to get his non-feathered ass over here after 'blowing up his phone' as the humans say.

He could have _sworn_ he heard the Detective _praying _to him. But the odds made it impossible. Besides her atheism. Which no doubt went through the wringer before being put back in place, she had to know she was doing it. Maybe he was mistaken.

Amenadiel finally arrived, breaking into his shifting thoughts, watching Lucifer's stalking movements warily. He approached his brother like a cat to a lion, but he bore a cautious smile. "So, Rhendriel. Fell after you did. Found out through what I have left of the grapevine that she...returned to the Silver City. Luci, she was welcomed back. I'm not sure when, but she wasn't away for long."

Rather than eagerly accepting the good news, he snapped, "oh? And what price did Father demand?"

"Well. I don't have _all_ the details."

"What do you have?"

"She was...demoted. She is no longer an angel, but one of the lower caste." He winced as he said it, but it didn't bury his hope. Surely Lucifer would want _any_ status in the City over ever returning to Hell or living amongst the mortals for much longer.

Lucifer clutched his whiskey glass until it cracked. "I believe that's a hard pass from me."

Amenadiel frowned. "Why did you ask about her then?"

He looked in the mirror behind the bar. "Chloe apparently passed on a message from dear Father. The name was part of it."

"Oh, through her near-death-," at Lucifer's raptor glare, he amended, "most certainly not life-threatening experience? And the rest?"

Lucifer sucked on a cigarette to pause heavily. His voice thickened as he spoke. "_Submit to me, be again my Morningstar in truth. Together we we rule the galaxy as father and son."_

Amenadiel looked at him blankly.

"Alright, fine, I made up that second part, but it amounts to the same thing. More like King and Lordling than Father and son. He's either saying I _won't_ lose my power or position should I return; should I _grovel_ for His forgiveness, or that I'll be demoted to mall-kiosk manager but I get to live one again in the City. I only got part of the message, as the Detective was already coming around before I got back from a...personal errand."

"That's still great news, Luci! You have a way back home, now!"

"Not if I have to walk back on my knees, I don't."

"But-"

His wings flared out with flashing edges, unbidden and unwelcome. "Sodding- No! I did nothing _wrong._ I will not seek to _repent _for Dad's fickle mercies. He's the one who should come to _me_."

Amenadiel groaned softly, ache in his tone. "Just...don't burn this bridge, alright?" '_like you did your wings' _hung in the air unspoken yet echoing all the same.

The immovable object continued to stare at his reflection dead in the eyes. "I served once. Never again."

* * *

Chloe finally collapsed in her own bed with a sigh heard the world 'round, flopping on top of the covers, spread-eagle and limp. "Hello bed, I missed you."

Trixie flopped down next to her and curled up hard against her side.

"Hey Monkey. Wanna sleep here tonight?"

Trixie nodded and wrapped an arm around her mother. "Did you dream?"

She dreamed during her last night in the hospital, but they were fueled by a dose of morphine and ran all over the place. "I dunno, sweetie. There's bits and pieces, but mostly I just remember a flash and then waking up in the hospital bed." Pain too, but she didn't mention that part.

"I asked God to fix you."

Chloe kept her eye-roll to herself. "That's nice of you, baby. The doctors fixed me, but I'm still glad you were looking out for me, it's sweet."

"I know they did. But I still think God heard me."

She blew out a breath, smiling to herself. She missed her childhood sometimes. Speaking of which. "Hey, I did have this one dream, I think."

Trixie's voice was muffled against her mom's body. "Yeah?"

Chloe's outstretched hand felt something. Warm and loved and missed, a ghostly passing of fur through her fingers. She pushed her head up but saw nothing. Relaxing again, she curled her limbs around her daughter.

"Did I ever tell you about Charlie?"

-end-


End file.
